The AAA Boys race opened the afternoon session. Cabell Midland was a strong favorite in the team race. Individually, a battle between Cabell Midland's Eric Cooper and University's Ryan Skotnicki was expected to be a highlight. Cabell Midland was dominant as expected, taking 5 of the top 12 places. Individually, the duel did not materialize as Ryan Skotnicki ran away from the field.

The weather was fine now aside from periods of blustery wind, bu the course had been slowed dramatically by the earlier rain. Whereas last year, the race leaders blasted through in 4:37, this year, the pace was a much milder 5:04. The expected pair was in front, Cooper and Skotnicki crossing in 5:04. Just behind was the Preston duo of Eric Ryan and Bryan Hooton. Right with them was University's Joseph Schaeffer in 5:06 and Parkersburg's Landry Boggess and Cabell Midland's Cass Meadows in 5:07. Teamwise, Cabell Midland already appeared to be in the front as the next 3 Midland runners were through in the next 5 seconds.

At the two mile mark, the race was all but over. Ryan Skotnicki came through in 10:18, opening a 16 second gap on the next runners. Eric Cooper came through in 2nd at 10:34 followed closely by Eric Ryan in 10:35 and Joseph Schaeffer in 10:36. A small gap led to another pack, with Bryan Hooton, Landry Boggess passing in 10:40 and Cass Meadows in 10:41. Another gap led to three more competitors battling it out with North Marion's Joseph Morris, Cabell Midland's Brian Bridgewater, and Parkersburg's Mark Parsons coming through in 10:53. In the team race, Cabell Midland pretty much had things wrapped up at this point, barring disaster.

At the finish, Ryan Skotnicki was never threatened. He crossed in 16:30, a full 17 seconds ahead of Eric Ryan. They were the only two to run under 17:00. Cass Meadows made a nice move in the last mile to pull into 3rd. Joseph Schaeffer held off Bryan Hooton for 4th. An ailing Eric Cooper held on for 6th, just ahead of Joseph Morris. Landry Boggess just held off Brian Bridgewater and teammate Mark Parsons as the three rounded out the All-State squad.

It's difficult to establish an MVP for this meet because the gaps in the team scores are fairly substantial all the way through, particularly at the top end. Ultimately, I'm going with more of a mental-aspect MVP. Cass Meadows only moved up 8 spots. However, it's more difficult to climb at the top end of the spectrum. More importantly, it's sometimes difficult for someone to step up when the team leader struggles. I've seen entire teams collapse when one person struggles. Despite only being a Sophomore, Cass Meadows did not let this happen. He charged through the field and led his team to victory.

How did RunWV do on our predictions? We got the team champion correct, and nailed the top 5 in the proper order. Jefferson and Elkins moved up a spot, and Capital climbed two spots. Individually, we correctly picked 8 of the All-State performers. We also got 12 of the top 15 and 21 of the top 25. The pair that climbed into the top 10 to take unpredicted All-State Honors were Cabell Midland's Cass Meadows (predicted 11th, got 3rd) and Parkersburg's Mark Parsons (predicted 15th, got 10th). The four who climbed into the top 25 were Preston's Jarod Hooton (predicted 35th, got 20th), George Washington's Nick Walsh (predicted 28th, got 21st), Jefferson's Kevin Thurston (predicted 26th, got 24th), and North Marion's Thomas Carpenter (predicted 34th, got 25th). There was a tie for the big mover of the day. A pair of runners climbed 20 places. They were North Marion's Garrett Glover (predicted 74th, got 54th) and Capital's Bryan Shamblin (predicted 78th, got 58th).

We offer our congratulations to the Cabell Midland boys. You sat atop the rankings all season long with targets on your backs. You established a strong pack and refused to let anything slow you down in reclaiming the championship for your school.

We offer our congratulations to Ryan Skotnicki. You continually run strong, patient races, never wavering if someone gets out ahead of you early. It takes courage to believe in your ability to come from behind, and you do it time and time again.

We offer our congratulations to the boys who shook up our predictions. You prove what we try to tell people every year. Rankings and predictions don't mean anything. That's why we run the race.